In The Midnight Hour
by SpobyFicStalker
Summary: "Toby looked around at all these people that Spencer had introduced into his life, and it never failed to amaze him how strongly he felt about every single one of them." The Cavanaughs spend New Year's with their friends. More a cozy gathering than a wild party. Spencer and Toby. Oneshot.


A/N: I bet you guys didn't expect to see me back again so soon? Or at all? Haha. I received a prompt on Tumblr from someone who wanted me to write Spoby having a New Year's party with their friends. At first I was almost sure my muse wouldn't bite, but then my brain did this weird thing where it kept insisting and it was all very strange yet surprisingly productive.

This story is a direct sequel to my last one, All I Want For Christmas Is You. Meaning it takes place during the same holiday season. For those of you who are sick of the triplets, my profound apologies. I completely understand. But writing my AU version of Spoby is the only way I know how to distance myself from the show, and distancing myself from the show is the only way I still know how to write them at all. It's a vicious cycle that I can't seem to find my way out, unfortunately.

This story also touches on the adult lives of Hanna, Emily and Aria. Again, it's completely separate from canon. I apologize if their lives are not the way you envisioned, or if they didn't end up with the partner you wanted. This is simply my version, and it's AU anyway so it really shouldn't matter all that much. LOL.

* * *

 **In The Midnight Hour**

They were running late.

It was very unlike them, and very unlike Spencer especially, but it was one of those things that left them powerlessly at their children's mercy.

He had been loading their luggage into the car, ready to leave for their two-day trip, perfectly on time, when his wife had come to the conclusion that their daughter's favorite stuffed animal was missing in action. Eloise so rarely put up a fight for anything, but both he and Spencer knew that there was no chance in hell she'd go to sleep in a strange bed without her signature comfort item.

Even if it was only one night, and even if that night was New Year's Eve.

Spencer had eventually located the small, worn out, grey donkey (it had always looked more like a bunny to Toby, but when he'd mentioned this to his wife she was not amused) after no less than forty minutes of searching. It had been a tense forty minutes, with the kids trying to help where they could but getting distracted easily as five-year-olds do, and Eloise looking increasingly anxious that they would suddenly announce they'd have to leave without it even though they promised her multiple times that they wouldn't. Her little face lit up like Christmas when Spencer offered it to her, having saved it from the single most inopportune spot that Toby could think of.

"Eloise," Spencer said carefully, and he could tell she was trying to understand. "Why did you put Donkey in the microwave?"

"I didn't," she responded, wide-eyed, clutching the toy to her as if the mere thought hurt her soul.

"Oh, that was me," Lawrence offered up, looking sheepish.

When his parents and sisters looked at him in speechless bewilderment, he quickly protested, "I'm sorry, I forgot! I wanted to play Hide And Seek but Cleo and Eloise didn't want to, so I… It seemed like a good idea at the time," he finished with a shrug.

Spencer rubbed her temples. "Toby. Put him in the car before I strangle him."

None of the kids so much as flinched, and Lawrence even laughed out loud as Toby hoisted him up into his arms. They all knew their mother had a dark sense of humor, and that her bark was way worse than her bite.

"I love you, Mommy," Lawrence shouted over Toby's shoulder as he carried him out into the driveway, the two girls at his heels.

"I love you, too," Spencer yelled back just as loudly from inside the house, where Toby knew she was turning on the alarm. "You're lucky you're really, really, _really_ cute!"

And so they had gotten a late start to their morning. It was almost noon when they arrived at the cabin after a drive of about an hour, and it was already jam packed with action. Toby looked around at all these people that Spencer had introduced into his life, and it never failed to amaze him how strongly he felt about every single one of them.

Emily, of course, was the only one he had not met through his wife. After Maya, after her brutal breakup with Paige and after the utmost painful realization that Alison would never be able to truly meet her needs, Emily had spent her college years focused on school and on figuring out what she really wanted. Just when she had decided she rather enjoyed single life, she ran into a spunky, beautiful barista by the name of Angelica. It had been love at first sight, and Toby had been unimaginably grateful to see his friend find some stability in her relationship. The two had a joyous spring wedding, and not long after the triplets were born Emily and Angie had announced they, too, desired to expand their family. After looking into adoption, they were selected by not one but two different birth mothers. It surprised no one that instead of choosing between the two, they welcomed both babies with open arms and full hearts. Dominic and Declan were born just a few weeks apart: one with dark Latino features, and the other with green eyes and strawberry blonde locks. Anyone who met them could see that they were brothers in every sense of the word – the kind of that playfully (and not so playfully) pounded on each other but also defended each other through thick and thin. They were as rowdy and rambunctious but also as sweet and loving as three-year-olds could be.

Hanna and Caleb had one daughter, Rylee, and, somewhat to Toby's surprise, never talked about possibly having another. He didn't know if it was because Hanna was an only child and it was all she knew, or if it was because Rylee Regina Rivers was the definition of a Handful. She was Toby's goddaughter and he loved her dearly, but at times he deeply suspected she was more of a challenge than his three kids combined (when he'd mentioned this to Spencer, she wholeheartedly agreed). She was a picky eater, didn't sleep through the night until she was almost five and had Hanna's flair for drama. Even Cleo, who was by far his and Spencer's most argumentative child, often seemed like a breeze next to Rylee's natural pull towards anything she wasn't supposed to be doing. Eloise was so calm and docile in comparison that Hanna would jokingly demand to know what they fed her. Still, Rylee was her father's princess and the apple of her mother's eye, and the life of the party almost everywhere she went. His kids absolutely adored her and Toby had to admit that these get-togethers wouldn't be the same without Rylee and her wide range of emotions.

At thirteen, Aria's son, Oscar, had six years on Rylee, eight years on the triplets and ten years on Emily's boys. Aria had confessed to Spencer that he was starting to show signs of teenage rebellion, wanting to spend more time with his friends and indicating that he would have preferred to celebrate New Year's somewhere else. Toby knew it wasn't uncommon for a teenager, but it made him ache for Aria just the same. She hadn't had it easy all these years. She was barely twenty when she fell pregnant, and her already difficult and undisputedly unhealthy relationship with Ezra Fitz had taken a turn for the worse. She impulsively married him anyway in a desperate attempt to take charge of her life and provide for her unborn child's needs, but to no one's surprise it fell apart when Oscar was still tiny. She never went back to him – not for lack of trying on his part. It was as if Oscar had finally given her the wake up call she needed. Toby's respect for Aria had only grown as they all watched her juggle single parenthood with school and eventually a career, while going to great lengths to keep a neutral relationship with Ezra for their child's sake. She was very close with Oscar, and even over a decade after her divorce, he remained the only man in her life.

Lawrence, Cleo and Eloise were beyond excited to see their friends. Not even Eloise needed time to adjust, following her brother and sister as all three of them joined the children's festivities and left their parents to drag all the luggage up to the bedrooms on the second floor. They had all been coming here for New Year's since before all the kids were born – with the exception of Oscar, who had toddled around the cabin that first year (it was insane to Toby, because he remembered it like it was yesterday and now this boy was a teenager). The accommodation had been much too spacious during earlier years, which came in handy when first Hanna and Caleb had a kid, then Spencer and Toby had three, and then Emily and Angie had two.

He and Spencer quickly settled into their bedroom, where they unpacked some stuff for themselves as well as for the kids in the room across the hall. Lunch was on the table by the time they headed back downstairs: a large table for all seven adults plus Oscar, and a smaller one for the six little ones. Angie had simply brought some sandwiches from the coffee bar she had opened a few years ago, knowing that they wouldn't need much in light of the feast they would be preparing that evening.

According to tradition, they all went for a long walk after lunch. The kids followed trails, collected sticks and rocks, and took turns sitting on Toby's shoulders. Cleo wanted to know about all the different trees and plants, which had Spencer sharing the knowledge she had on the subject and consulting her phone where she fell short. It wasn't long before they were both obsessed, wandering off together so they could inspect more closely, their gloved hands folded inside each other's and chocolate hair spilling out from both their winter hats. It made Toby's heart swell to the point that he swore he felt it in his throat because when his wife was pregnant, he'd crossed his fingers and prayed to the stars for at least one science nerd – just like her.

He looked at Lawrence, who was holding more sticks than he could carry while still trying to gather more, and at Eloise, who felt secure enough to run ahead with Rylee; and an odd, almost unsettling feeling manifested itself into his gut.

He was nothing without his family. Spencer was remarkable enough to shine on her own, but him? He was a ghost without the woman who brought him back to life and the children who only made it brighter.

* * *

"Who wants hot chocolate?" Hanna demanded to know once they'd made their way back to the cabin. The kids were still taking off coats and boots but all stopped what they were doing to shoot their hands in the air as a chorus of "Meee!" followed.

They tried to get all the kids to nap afterwards, thinking the warm milk in their bellies might work in their favor. But as it turned out, excitement triumphed over fatigue for most of them. Only the two littlest boys eventually went down, though it took a lot of coaxing and Emily eventually lying down in the bed between them.

It was the first year they had all agreed to try and let the kids stay up till midnight, and Toby was curious to see which ones would actually make it. All three of his and Spencer's kids had declared they would, though he suspected some of it might be under Rylee's influence, whom they all looked up to. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that Cleo would see midnight if that was what she'd set her mind to, but he wasn't sure about the other two. He didn't stress over it too much. The plan was to simply put all the kids in pajamas for the party and take them to bed according to who needed it.

The adults got started on dinner while the kids played. Cleo suddenly appeared chessboard her grandparents had given her for Christmas, which made Oscar look up from his laptop for the first time all evening. The two settled in front of the fireplace, and it was a sight to see: such a big boy and such a little girl, sitting across from each other like equals. Cleo was brilliant and resolute, tenacious and resourceful, but in the end no match for a teenager. Toby saw her blink away tears of bitter disappointment as she admitted defeat. He knew she wouldn't ever cry or throw a fit; she was more the type to suck it up and control her emotions and try to hide her both her intellectual and her emotional vulnerabilities from the outside world. It was a character trait that her grandparents encouraged but broke his fucking heart.

He reached for her as she passed him a few minutes later, gathering her close and pressing a kiss against her rosy cheek.

"That was a good game of chess you played," he murmured. "I'm very proud of you."

Her face fell. "But I didn't win."

"Well, Oscar is eight years older than you," he pointed out gently. "He's probably played a lot more games of chess in his life than you have."

"I wanted to win, Daddy," she sulked, and he smiled sadly despite everything.

"I know, pumpkin. Everybody wants to win." _You and your mother probably a little more than everyone else_ , he added only to himself. "But it's so much more important that you tried your best and you had fun. Did you have fun playing with Oscar?"

She nodded hesitantly, her tiny fingers toying with the collar of his plaid shirt.

"I think he had fun playing with you, too," Toby told her. "It looked to me like it was the most fun he's had all day."

At this, her eyes lifted to his and her beautiful little face illuminated, and Toby fully appreciated how much easier it was to comfort his daughter than to comfort his wife. Cleo was still so young, and unlike Spencer her tendency to be hard on herself was elastic and moldable. He had high hopes that by teaching her healthy coping mechanisms for setback and for failure in particular, they would be able to spare her the pain Spencer had endured in her own childhood and well beyond.

This child bounced back faster than anyone he'd ever met, and knew how to take charge of a situation like nobody's business. Within minutes, she was coordinating a game of Simon Says for all the kids. Meanwhile Caleb had turned on the TV, and footage of the year changing in Paris, Barcelona and Moscow filled the screen.

"Ew!" Rylee suddenly shrieked, staring at the TV with boggle-eyes. "They're _kissing_! Why are they kissing?"

Laughter erupted, and Emily informed her smilingly, "It's tradition. When you're a grownup, you kiss the person you love at the beginning of a new year."

To Toby's mild horror, his son turned to him and blurted out, "I know who _you're_ going to kiss. You're going to kiss Mom."

He felt a flush creep on his face as everyone howled with more laughter – not that he had any sort of explanation for his slight embarrassment. He'd never made a secret out of loving Spencer to the point of no return. Good to know he was at least transparent.

Spencer was still chuckling as she made her way over to him, draping her arms across him and pressing her lips to his cheek. She seemed to sympathize with his dislike of being put on the spot when he wasn't expecting it, but it didn't stop her from lightly poking more fun at the situation.

"Is he wrong?" she wanted to know, and even though her tone was matter-of-fact her eyes shone mischievously.

He looked at her and felt his heart flutter stupidly. "No."

Dinner was a lively, enjoyable affair. The first casualties of exhaustion fell just before dessert, subsequently softening everyone's faces. Despite their afternoon nap, Dominic and Declan fell asleep at the table with their heads in their arms. Luckily, all the kids were in pajamas already (Toby's three were in matching red-and-white-striped Rudolph onesies that made it incredibly easy for him to spot them amidst the other kids. He imagined Spencer had packed this particular set of nightwear with that very purpose in mind, and it never ceased to amaze him how much better she was than him. At everything).

The two slumbering boys were carried upstairs by their mothers, and it was the last they would see of them till morning.

Around ten, he noticed Eloise had extracted herself from the pack of remaining children. They were once again running around the living room now that dinner was over, but Eloise had settled herself on the couch next to Oscar, who'd gone back to Minecraft the second he'd finished his chess game with Cleo. She followed the activity on his computer screen with tired eyes, and soon leaned her head against his bicep as her thumb found its way to her mouth and her free arm held Donkey tightly against her. Toby was somewhat surprised to see her so trustingly snuggle up to this moody teenager when after all these years she still wouldn't go near Melissa, but then again Eloise had always done better amongst their friends than any of their relatives.

Apparently Spencer had been keeping an eye on their daughter's whereabouts as well, because she made to stand up when Eloise's eyelids slowly fell shut. He touched her hand with his. "I'll go."

He approached quietly but evidently not quietly enough, because her eyes fluttered back open. Crouching down in front of her, he spoke softly, "Hey, sweet pea. You ready to go night night?"

She didn't even agree verbally. She simply leaned forward and lifted her arms so Toby could pick her up off the couch. He brought her to Spencer to say goodnight, who cradled her in her lap for a minute. She kissed the child's face and smoothed her hair back and tried to explain that when they saw each other in the morning it would be next year. Eloise was smart as a whip but her young brain was too exhausted to grasp this concept at the moment, and Spencer smiled ruefully at him as she handed their daughter back to him.

He carefully put her down in the big bed their three kids would be sharing for the night, towards the middle because he knew that Lawrence and Cleo were their most combustible combination and putting Eloise between them significantly decreased the chances of fighting. He was tucking the covers around her when her little voice came sleepily, "Daddy, stay with me? The shadows are scary."

He looked around the room and then back at his daughter. She was in an unfamiliar environment, her siblings were still downstairs and Toby had never understood the unspoken parenting rule of never lying down with your child anyway. Every single night he spent away from Spencer, he was reminded of how miserable it felt to fall asleep alone.

"Have I ever told you what a mess I am when you're away for work and it's time for me to go to bed?" Spencer had asked him once, and he'd been almost relieved to hear her say that because at least they were both in the same predicament.

One-on-one time with triplets was a rarity and a luxury, and even though Eloise was already halfway to dreamland he decided he would just enjoy this. He lay down with his arm around her – and her beloved Donkey – where he stayed until her deep breathing told him she was no longer aware he was there.

Everyone had retired to the couch by the time he made his way back downstairs, with Lawrence, Cleo and Rylee still dancing and roughhousing like there was no tomorrow. Toby lowered himself down next to Spencer, who tucked her feet underneath her and leaned into his body almost unnoticeably. He brushed her hair away from her neck in an instinctive act of tenderness before draping his arm over the back of the couch. He was too comfortable to get up and retrieve his glass of wine from the table, which Spencer soon noticed and let him sip from hers. They continued to share her glass as midnight crept closer and closer.

Twenty minutes before countdown, Cleo came to notify them that Rylee was fast asleep in the corner of the hallway. Sure enough, they found her in the fetal position with her party hat still on her head. She protested hardcore when Caleb lifted her up off the floor, but collapsed down on his shoulder before she'd even finished her sentence.

"Yeah, that's my kid," Hanna noted with humor as Caleb disappeared up the stairs wit her. "Unstoppable and full of energy but at the end of the day, she crashes and burns."

Only Lawrence and Cleo were still standing now, one driven by excitement and the other by determination to see the fireworks. Hanna practiced shouting _Happy New Year_ with them, which they found delightful – especially Lawrence.

"Happy New Year!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "Happy New Year!"

"Okay," Toby intervened patiently. "Lawrence, let's try to keep it down so–"

"Happy New Year, Daddy!" he interrupted, punching the air.

Toby could not hold back his laughter despite his better judgment. "I heard you. And you're early. Still ten minutes to go."

The small boy could not be discouraged. He threw his arms around his father's leg in one of his bouts of affection, and Toby ran his fingers through his light brown hair and chuckled.

"Having fun, tiger?"

"Yes!" Lawrence jumped up and down in exhilaration. "This is the best night of my life!"

With only a few minutes to go, he and Spencer bundled up their children in coats and scarves and boots over their pajamas, threw on their own jackets, and all headed out onto the back porch. Lawrence and Cleo had glow sticks in their hands and were running around like the over-stimulated, adrenaline-ridden little beings they were. Oscar appeared with party poppers and showed them how to effectively produce confetti, and even he looked intrigued and enthusiastic as midnight drew near. Before they all knew it, Caleb had pulled out his phone and began counting down from ten, and the rest of the group quickly joined in.

Suddenly there were fireworks, and as Toby looked at Spencer, there were even more fireworks.

Their lips fused together and their arms slid around each other. He'd been kissing her for the last seventeen New Years, and he sincerely hoped for at least three times as many in the future.

"What can I wish you?" he murmured quietly, brushing their noses together. "A raise at work?"

She laughed, and he saw more fireworks in her eyes. "That would be nice. But in the end, all I want is for us and the kids to be happy and healthy and safe."

"Same," he admitted, and they smiled at each other when their eyes met. Her icy fingers cupped his cheeks as she kissed him again, and her hands might have been cold but her lips were warm.

"Happy New Year, my love."

"Happy New Year." His arms tightened around her and he couldn't resist telling her softly, "I love you."

He could tell she was going to say it back, but then she got distracted by something over his shoulder that made her grin heartbreakingly. He turned his head to see their children. They were turning around in circles with their arms wrapped around each other, still yelling _Happy New Year_ and giggling uninhibitedly. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Aria snapping pictures of them with her fancy camera, and he gave her a moment to get a decent shot before moving forward and scooping them both up in his arms. Spencer quickly joined in, pressing kisses against their faces and smiling like the sun. Lawrence and Cleo still had not stopped shouting _Happy New Year_ and waving their glow sticks.

Toby missed the little girl upstairs with a fierce ache, but there was champagne, and there was love, and there was promise.

And he counted his blessings.


End file.
